Nehemiah 2
โ Nehemiah 01 | Nehemiah | Nehemiah 03 โ
v1
In the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, when wine was before him, I picked up the wine, and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad before in his presence.
v2
The king said to me, โWhy is your face sad, since you are not sick? This is nothing else but sorrow of heart.โ Then I was very much afraid.
v3
I said to the king, โLet the king live forever! Why shouldnโt my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathersโ tombs, lies waste, and its gates have been consumed with fire?โ
v4
Then the king said to me, โWhat is your request?โ So I prayed to the God of heaven.
v5
I said to the king, โIf it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you would send me to Judah, to the city of my fathersโ tombs, that I may build it.โ
v6
The king said to me (the queen was also sitting by him), โHow long will your journey be? When will you return?โ So it pleased the king to send me, and I set a time for him.
v7
Moreover I said to the king, โIf it pleases the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the River, that they may let me pass through until I come to Judah;
v8
and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the kingโs forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel by the temple, for the wall of the city, and for the house that I will occupy.โ The king granted my requests, because of the good hand of my God on me.
v9
Then I came to the governors beyond the River, and gave them the kingโs letters. Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me.
v10
When Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, heard of it, it grieved them exceedingly, because a man had come to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.
v11
So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days.
v12
I arose in the night, I and a few men with me. I didnโt tell anyone what my God put into my heart to do for Jerusalem. There wasnโt any animal with me, except the animal that I rode on.
v13
I went out by night by the valley gate, even toward the jackalโs well, then to the dung gate, and inspected the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and its gates were consumed with fire.
v14
Then I went on to the spring gate and to the kingโs pool, but there was no place for the animal that was under me to pass.
v15
Then I went up in the night by the brook, and inspected the wall; and I turned back, and entered by the valley gate, and so returned.
v16
The rulers didnโt know where I went, or what I did. I had not as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest who did the work.
v17
Then I said to them, โYou see the bad situation that we are in, how Jerusalem lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire. Come, letโs build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we wonโt be disgraced.โ
v18
I told them about the hand of my God which was good on me, and also about the kingโs words that he had spoken to me. They said, โLetโs rise up and build.โ So they strengthened their hands for the good work.
v19
But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite servant, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they ridiculed us, and despised us, and said, โWhat is this thing that you are doing? Will you rebel against the king?โ
v20
Then I answered them, and said to them, โThe God of heaven will prosper us. Therefore we, his servants, will arise and build; but you have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.โ